A World of Entertainment
by Devin Trinidad
Summary: Husk and Nifty question their roles in Alastor's scheme with the hotel.


It was a slow day at the Hazbin Hotel and Husk was busy nursing a bottle of something that he didn't know the name of. As he allowed the spirit to burn his throat and settle into his stomach, he happened to catch a glimpse of one of his coworkers, Nifty. Although they had worked together in the past, they were not as close as friends. Really, they were just glorified acquaintances who just happened to live at the beck and call of a certain Radio Demon.

Husk contemplated on greeting her with his customary gruffness, but was taken aback when she demon sped over to the bar.

"Huh, didn't take you for a drinker." Husk leaned against the bar's counter as he contemplated the demon before him. "Ya need anything?"

Nifty shook her head in that over exaggerated way of hers. She was an excitable sort of person—the one with that sort of energy that Husk normally couldn't stomach on a daily basis.

"Oh no! I'm here for this!" At that, the demoness brandished one of her special cleaning cloths like a ninja would with a katana. With quick efficiency, she began to rub at the table with an energy that had Husk wondering how she got the energy to move so fast. "Can't have any dust around here!"

"You know," Husk began with a drawl, "you don't have to clean up the bar. I can handle it, kid." The demon hybrid took a swig of one of his bottles of booze, careful not to miss a drop. He kept a careful eye on the young woman as she continued to rub the table with even strokes. For some odd reason, he had the feeling that if she wasn't careful, she would end up like a pancake being tossed onto the floor—the barstool underneath her seemed to jostle and teeter ever so slightly to cause concern.

Nifty nodded her head frantically in reply. "I know, but the hotel needs to be clean as much as possible!" The excitable little demon practically leaped up on the bar's countertop—she was so tiny!—in order to furiously wipe up the nonexistent dust on the counter. "There! Much better!"

Husk eyed the pristine white cloth that Nifty had used to clean up the bar. Aside from a few crinkles that marred the linen, there was not a trace of dirt to be seen.

"Whatever you say." Husk popped open a random bottle off the shelf and gestured for the tiny demon to sit still. Much to his surprise and appreciation, the demoness heeded his request as she settled herself onto one of the barstools. "You want some? You've been cleaning all day."

It was very uncharacteristically kind of the demon hybrid to sound concerned and almost parental, but Nifty paid that no mind. Instead, she simply held out a dainty hand to accept a shot of something hot pink.

"Hmm," Nifty hummed to herself as she took a tiny sip. At the alcoholic tinge that burned her throat and warmed her insides, she lazily let her head drift onto the table. Her lone eye remained closed, almost as if she was about to sleep right then and there. "I guess I have been working hard all day…" For once, her high pitched voice and excitable persona had dimmed down into a lazy sort of murmur.

"Kid, if you start drooling on my tabletop, I'll gut you." Husk was curt and blunt as usual, but his eyes still held some fondness for her. He lazed against the counter, his wings fluffing up behind him as he leaned closer to the young woman. "You doing all right?"

Nifty slightly raised her head and gave the older demon a grin so wide, Alastor would have applauded her. "Don't worry about little old me! I'm doing great!" She took a sip of her drink before she began to speak again. When she spoke, her voice had lowered—hushed as if she had entered a church during a funeral. "Although… what's your take on all of this?"

She silently traced the rim of her short glass as Husk looked at her in apathetic curiosity.

"You're going to have to be more specific," Husk grunted. He took a swig out of one of his bottles of booze before staring pointedly at the young woman. "But I have to warn you, if you're going to be talking about what I think you're going to be talking about, walls have ears."

"It is what you think it is…" She paused in her musings, an apologetic in her eyes as she continued to trace her glass' rim.

Husk gestured for her to continue. Might as well open the can of worms while their sadistic master was away. "Well, kid… if it's that important and as long as we don't get punished, then you might as well spill the beans."

Nifty nodded her head. "I've been meaning to ask, what are we doing here? What's the point in all of this?" She scrunched up her small nose, her single eye narrowing in cute confused contemplation. "It's not like him to endorse charity work."

Husk huffed a laugh before topping off Nifty's glass with more alcohol. "We're here till Alastor tells us not to. Nothing else to it if I'm being honest."

"But...have you really thought about Charlie's dream?" Her voice was a soft whisper, but due to Husk's sensitive ears, he could hear the wistful longing.

Color him surprised. He didn't think that Nifty thought about anything outside of her "clean everything obsessively" bubble.

"About the hotel?"

Nifty looked up at him expectantly.

It was a cute gesture that had Husk feeling a little light and warm towards the young demoness. They might have not been friends, but they were close enough as colleagues to know that had each other's backs at least.

It was a shame that he was going to let her down.

"Nah, not really. The princess is free to do whatever she wants, but I can guarantee that we're all just lost causes."

The sudden light that glowed in Nifty's lone eye when she talked about Charlie's dream had dimmed until it was nothing more than a smoldering ember. Husk looked away, unable to stomach the fact that he had probably crushed the young demoness' dreams for redemption. Maybe he was being too blunt? But Nifty needed to know that reality was a cruel mistress—and she was harsher still because they were literally in Hell.

Suddenly, Husk's ears twitched, having caught wind of—

"My dear, Husk! You were paying attention for once!" Alastor, the feared Radio Demon, had appeared out of nowhere behind the cat hybrid demon. Husk snapped at him with a variety of swears that would have made any hardened demon blush. Undeterred by the sudden barrage of uncouth language, the demon in red merely raked his claws on top of Husk's head so that the fur became untidy. "Come now, you should already be used to this, no?" Alastor playfully poked Husk's nose, an action that had Husk seriously considering if he should just bite Alastor's fingers clean off.

"Doesn't matter," Husk growled. This time, when he pushed himself away from Alastor's figure, he actually succeeded in acquiring his personal space. "You've been pulling the same schtick ever since we met, but you're still a creepy asshole! Of course I'm not used to it!"

"Hey! Hey, no fighting!" Although Nifty's voice wasn't powerful, Husk found himself acquiescing to the small demoness' orders. Even Alastor, who was technically their boss, merely tutted to himself and settled on the counter, looking like an overgrown child as he swung his legs back and forth.

Alastor grinned charmingly at the young demoness. If Husk were to hazard a guess, he would have said that the Radio Demon almost looked fond. "And what have you been doing, my darling?"

Nifty smiled brightly at the Radio Demon before replying. "Just adding in the lady's touch that seems to be lacking in this place! You would not believe just how ill maintained the hotel was." She shook her head in mock disappointment. "Such a shame."

"This place ain't gonna last too long. It was a terrible fixer upper to be sure." Husk couldn't help but agree with the younger demon. He was about to knock back another gulp of his preferred booze, but a small, menacing chuckle stopped him. "What now, Alastor?"

"Oh ye of little faith!" The Radio Demon raised his arms in over-dramatic flair, the glint in his eyes holding a mischievous light. "Do you not believe that I can help this hotel?"

He may have been earnest in his question, but the sudden rigidity in his smile said otherwise. Husk happened to glance at the cane that was held within Alastor's grasp and visibly gulped. Alastor's claws were out and looked ready to draw blood.

"We didn't mean anything by it," Nifty cheerfully—a little too cheerfully, considering that she was only seconds away from becoming a small mound of ashes—said. "Don't look at me like that, Alastor!" She wiggled her fingers at him, trying but failing to look stern. "We're just curious, is all."

"Yeah, Just like what the little lady said," Husk said to appease Alastor. Husk allowed himself to indulge once more into his vice, hoping that he wasn't going to end up like dust. "'Sides, isn't a hotel a little out of left field for you?"

Alastor vanished his microphone and appeared to be lost in thought. Both of the demons in his employ knew better, though. It was quite clear from the sudden radio silence and the constant twitch in his ears that he knew the answer. At that point, it was apparent that Alastor was just teasing them, like a cat waiting for the mouse to start running towards safety.

Just as suddenly did the radio silence begin did it end. Right away, he was a flurry of movements and condescending smiles.

"My good friends! Have you not forgotten that I am, above all else, an entertainer?" He shook his head as if he was being bothered by children before drawing both of his associates into a shared hug. "I'm just playing the role bestowed upon me by forces unseen!"

"If you start talking about destiny, fate, and all that crap, I will vomit."

The hug seemed to grow constricting around Nifty and Husk. For a moment,it began to grow harder to breathe—the threat of death by asphyxiation seemed to grow with every passing second.

Finally, when Husk felt that he had lost all feeling in his upper torso and Nifty felt so close to becoming unconscious, Alastor relaxed his grip minutely.

His voice, clear as day, spoke to them in warning. "Remember your roles in all of this as well."

Underneath his gentlemanly words, lay a haze of deceit and threat like a thick smog. It did not help at all that there was a cacophony of feedback emitting from Alastor's figure. That was more than enough reason for both Nifty and Husk to immediately know that their place was something lower than Alastor's spot on the metaphorical food chain.

The both of them quieted and jerked their heads forward in affirmation. Husk, a little more than a curt jaunt of the head; Nifty, decidedly more animated and frenzied. At their shared gesture of fearful respect, Alastor cut off the feedback with a tremulous shriek that had Husk frantically covering his sensitive ears.

"Splendid!" Alastor hopped off the counter with childlike aplomb before sending a jolly smirk in their direction. "Now, my dear friends, let's have a little fun!"

As Alastor left the scene, both Nifty and Husk slumped forward, still trying to breathe after the impromptu hug and subsequent threat. For a moment, all they could do was rest their heads against the countertop and collect themselves.

"I—" Nifty shook her head quickly, as if that action would help her restore herself to normality. "I have to get back to cleaning."

"Yeah...yeah, you do that."

As Nifty scurried off to other parts of the hotel, Husk settled himself against the countertop and groaned.

For all of their sakes, he hoped that the hotel would be a success.

For Alastor.


End file.
